frayed at the edge

Access denied!

Did you miss me yesterday?  The naughty internet wouldn't let me online, no matter how many times I asked nicely.  So let's get on with the weekend report, starting with Friday evening, when I captured the moon

 

on Saturday morning, Malcolm picked Jennifer and Judith up from the train station, and after a reviving cuppa, we walked over to the town.  The locals kindly obliged with photo ops ..... first the seal

 

then the heron - who hogged the limelight by catchinng a fish (click on the photo to enlarge it to see the fish)

 

then later this enormous seagull posed happily

 

we had a walk round the old walls, then Jennifer treated us to lunch (sorry, too busy blethering to remember to take photos).  Next was a walk on the beach - here are the siblings gathering seaglass 

 

after a long walk on the beach, Malcolm treated us to ice creams ..... is there anything better on a sunny afternoon at the seaside than eating an ice cream ?!

 

back at the flat, we got excited when not one, but two, seals appeared in the dock 

 

after dinner, we walked J&J to the station, then on the walk back, Malcolm pointed out these heads

 

J&J, knowing that we have a bit of a seaside theme for the decor in the flat, gave us this wonderful glass plaque

 

to finish - the swallows are still preparing to leave, congregating on the neighbours' roof before swooping round the garden (the windows and our cars are splattered!)

 

back tomorrow with lots of sewing!

 

Non-stop fun!

Well ........ it was fun except for getting up at 6am on Saturday!  It was a long way to Harrogate - including a comfort stop, it took four hours to get there.  As always I have taken some general shots to share with you

 

those of you who watched the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee might recognise the chap in this photo (click on it to enlarge it).  I didn't get too close to take the photo in case he tried to flog me a signed copy of his book  (I overheard him telling someone that business was slow!)

 

our very own Kay Bell, who does such wonderful longarm quilting, has added to her collection of awards and trophies.  She got a First for quilting the stunning quilt which was also Best in Show.  Do pop over to Kay's blog to see a photo of the quilt.  

 

but what was this .........

 

another version of Mrs Billings!

 

of course I bought some things, but I didn't get the chance to take photos today, so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see my goodies!  We didn't have a comfort stop on the way home, so it only took us three and a half hours, then when we got back to Kelso, I only had a thirty minute drive over to Berwick.  Malcolm, Stuart and Alison had long since had dinner by the time I arrived - a delicious spread of tapas, but Malcolm had kindly kept some for me.  On Sunday morning we went out for breakfast- no photos were taken to avoid embarrassing those of us who ate large amounts of sausage, bacon and egg (Alison was somewhat more restrained with poached eggs and toast).  After the visitors left, we decided to go for a walk on the beach.  Woohoo, I've got the big lens back ...... and the next two photos show the difference it makes - the same boat snapped from the same place with first the small, and then the big lens

 

in this photo you can see Bamburgh Castle and Holy Island beyond the lighthouse

 

Malcolm was busy collecting driftwood, but I got distracted by these feathers

 

then there was an arty seedhead

 

and a little bird darting back and forward

 

after a long walk, we were of course in need of a cuppa.  It was such a lovely afternoon that we sat outside in the sunshine while we shared a toasted teacake

 

Malcolm as usual had coffee, while I had tea in a rather snazzy insulated cup

 

I was glad to have the big lens back when the swans came into the dock, going from this

 

to this

 

to this

 

these ones appeared in the evening, and soon settled down for a nap

 

 

ignoring the seal, which kept popping up among them

 

 

to finish, we didn't have a big ship come into the dock over the weekend, just this funny little boat

 

Morning, noon and night ......

...... or rather night, morning, noon and late afternoon!  We start with last night's sunset

 

then it's on to early this morning.  You know that summer is drawing to a close when the swallows start to congregate on the phone wires, getting ready to fly off south for the winter.  It has been a good breeding year - I counted sixty of them this morning!

later in the morning when we arrived in Berwick, the dock was a hive of activity, as the ship that came in on Sunday was still there ........

 

..... and had been joined by another one

 

when we were walking into town, we stopped to look in the other dock gate and could see this ship was being loaded .....

 

..... while this one was being unloaded

 

we had a stroll round town, deciding where to go for lunch.  Two places were ruled out as they were a bit pricey, and another one was ruled out before we even looked at the menu in the window - we could hear the customers' conversation out in the street - if they were talking so loudly, it would hardly be a quiet lunch!  We finally settled on this tiny coffee shop

 

where we shared a delicious "French platter".  We should have had a wooden board each with our bread and cheese, but as we were sitting at a small table, we had to share one

 

on Sunday I finished the stitcheries, and yesterday I pressed them and trimmed them

 

so after lunch we took the stitcheries to a picture framer, and had a long discussion on spacing, mounts and frames.  It will be some weeks before we get the resulting picture back, as the framer is very busy.  When we got back to the flat, the dock was still very busy, with two machines unloading the ship nearer to us

 

then, an extra flurry of activity, and the pilot boat appeared

 

the swans took off towards the opening

 

closely followed by one of the ships

 

then, late afternoon, there was a great burst of activity on the remaining ship

 

and the holds were closed

 

then we watched in amazement as the pilot boat pushed the ship round ......

 

........ and round

 

until it too headed out to sea

 

to finish - the swans really do get annoyed at all the activity, and every so often one will rise up out of the water and flap its wings in a very disapproving way ....... but usually not when I have the camera to hand.  So I was delighted when I captured not one, but two doing it!

This and that ......

........ sometimes I just can't think of a title, and despite seeking Malcolm's help, that's the best I could come up with for today's post!

On Saturday morning, we walked to the local DIY shop, to buy, amongst other things, a hook to hold back the new bedroom curtain.  On the way, we had a detour to the local church

 

it was hard to take photos of the church itself, as it is surrounded by very large trees

 

the church is surrounded by a large graveyard, with some very old headstones

 

 

 

if you can't read this one, do click on it to enlarge it, as it has a lovely sentiment

 

 

a lot of the headstones are well preserved, although sadly some of them can no longer be read

 

 

back at the flat with the new hook, we spent some time trying out various options for the new curtain - should it go to the left or the right, should it be fixed right across the top, or pulled to the side?  This is what we finally decided on

 

when I saw this man coming into the dock in a small rowing boat, of course I reached for the camera.  I didn't expect a bonus in the photo - the seal popped its head out of the water just as I snapped!

 

we went to Bamburgh Castle yesterday, but I have so many photos, that I will keep them for a separate post tomorrow ......... but I will show you what we had for lunch.  As we had tucked into kippers and soda bread for breakfast, we shared a sandwich ........ delicious brie and onion chutney

 

late on Saturday afternoon, we saw a ship anchor offshore, waiting for high tide to come into the dock.  They obviously had decided not to use the high tide in the middle of the night, so when we got back yesterday, we were just in time to see the ship coming round the final bend of the deep water channel ........

 

....... while the pilot boat waited to usher it in through the opening to the dock

 

this ship was nowhere as big as the previous ones we have seen, and it had room to spare as it came in

 

this photo of it passing a lorry parked on the dockside shows the size of the ship (as an aside, Stuart was at school with, I think, three of the Stevenson famiy, owners of the haulage firm)

 

as usual the swans went off in a huff

 

supervised by that cheeky seal!

 

later on, there were two more arrivals

 

the swans didn't like that one either - off in another huff!

 

to finish, a little taste of tomorrow's post

A high score at Scrabble

Yes, I had an appointment with my Polish dentist this morning, the one whose name I can't spell, but I'm sure would give me a winning score at Scrabble!  It was just for my routine annual checkup - you have to imagine his saying in his James Bond film Villain's voice ...... is good, no cavities, no decay, just need scrape and polish.  That was soon done, with only slight discomfort ....... I was very brave and didn't cry!  There was no patch'n'chat today, as there was a group visiting the shop, so Malcolm had come to the dentist with me, and as soon as I had paid the bill (that's the biggest ouch!) we headed for Berwick.  We stopped just over the border for lunch at Cornhill Village shop

 

it just looks like a little place from the outside, but inside there is a food shop, a gift shop and a small coffee shop

 

the lady who took our order was delightful, and soon we were tucking into a delicious lunch.  Malcolm had a haggis, beans and tatties pie (the tomato is from my salad, you know that I don't like it) 

 

I had a roll stuffed full with chicken tikka

 

when we got to the flat, as soon as we had unpacked, we headed out for a walk to the lighthouse, but got sidetracked by this ship being loaded in the dock

 

then as we walked across the old bridge there was another pause as we saw the seal in the river.  As Stuart still has my long lens, you will just have to trust me that the little dark blob is indeed the seal

 

finally, the lighthouse was in sight

 

but there were still distractions.  This Edward VII postbox is from the early 1900s (he was Queen Victoria's son)

 

in the distance we coud see (just) Bamburgh Castle

 

and Holy Island

 

and of course I had to stop to admire some swans

 

but at last we reached the lighthouse.  Would you like it on the left of the photo

 

or on the right

 

the clouds started to build up, giving us dramatic skies

 

it would never do if I had to do without my Friday cake, so on our way back to the flat we bought two slices of a rather delicious lemon cheesecake

 

the ship was still being loaded

 

with a constant  stream of large lorries

 

there was a scary moment when these two got a bit close to each other

 

I haven't forgotten about the sewing - the cloth is on the table

 

the cushion is on the bed

 

and the curtain is up, with Malcolm acting as a temporary hook to hold the tieback in place!

 

we plan to be out and about over the weekend - whether you are at home or away, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

An unplanned post ......

........ you will have to wait until tomorrow for the plannned post, as when we arrived at the flat this morning, the big ship was still docked and being unloaded

 

big lorries came and went all day

 

as slowly the hold was emptied.  The big green unloading machine gradually crept closer (definitely on the Christmas list!)

 

then suddenly the last load had been removed, and the hatches were battened down

 

the engines were started, and the bow slowly edged away from the dock

 

this time the swans caught on a bit quicker than they did on Saturday, and made a sharp exit

 

the ship took a bit of manouvering to turn round 

 

getting rather too close to the dock at one point

 

however, the pilot boat was on hand, keeping an eye on proceedings

 

finally, the ship was turned and heading out of the dock, still with the pilot boat in attendance

 

and we had our view back!

 

the last two photos show just how much cargo the ship was carrying ....... on Saturday, it was low in the water coming into the dock

 

and today you can see how much higher it was going back out

 

do pop back in tomorrow, as not only will there be a sewing update, but there will also be photos of something very special that I bought today!

A VERY busy weekend!

On Saturday, after a bite of lunch, we walked along to Spittal beach, as there was a seaside fair on.  It was much too busy to take photos, although I would love to have taken some shots of little tots riding on beautiful donkeys.  After a potter round the stalls, and having walked the length of the promenade, we decided to walk back along the beach.  Malcolm immediately started picking up driftwood, as he is busy making more trees, and has some other projects in the design stage.  I wandered along behind him, picking up the occasional piece of seaglass, but mostly just enjoying the scenery (and keeping an eye on the waves as the tide was coming in, and I didn't want wet feet!)

 

there was a large ship sitting offshore - we guessed it was waiting for high tide

 

we were immediately proved right when the pilot boat appeared!

 

as we walked back home, we kept pace with the ship.  It passed the lighthouse .......

 

........ and headed towards the pilot boat, which was indicating where to make the first turn

 

the pilot boat sailed on, showing the ship its route towards the next turn

 

but what was this coming round behind the ship?

 

it was the Lifeboat, coming back to the Lifeboat station

 

we quickened our pace to get to the dock before the ship.  There are all sorts of warning signs at the dock about keeping out - but no-one pays any attention to them at the weekend, so we went in to have prime position to watch the ship squeeze into the dock

 

the first approach was misjudged and they had to back up and try again, aided by the pilot boat nudging them into line

 

but, I hear you cry, what about the swans, with a hulking great ship rapidly filling the dock?  At first, they just moved into the corner

 

but eventually it occured to them that perhaps they ought to move

 

at that point we left the dock and headed into the flat, where we watched the rest of the proceedings from the window

 

the swans decided they wanted nothing to do with this huge interloper, and left the dock in a great huff!

 

we had an excellent morning out yesterday, but I'll save that for tomorrow, and fast forward to this morning, when suddenly there was a great deal of activity on the dock, as they started unloading the ship.  First a large lorry arrived

 

followed by a smart little machine (I think I'll be putting one of them in my letter to Santa!)

 

the first hold was opened

 

and in no time at all the lorry was being loaded ....... no sooner had it been loaded and driven off, than another one arrived, but we couldn't stay to watch any longer, as we needed to get home 

 

a very unusual photo to finish - as we were walking back on Saturday keeping an eye on the ship, we nearly walked into this newly-married couple's photos!

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A walk on the beach

We had mixed weather on Saturday, with some heavy showers, so we were delighted to wake up yesterday to bright sunshine, which the swans were enjoying too

 

we decided to head along the coast a bit, having read this small article in a magazine

 

by the time we got to Cocklawburn beach, it had got somewhat cloudy, but it didn't stop us from having a good long walk.  The views were stunning

 

there were lots of interesting shells

 

fortunately there was only one dead monster green crab

 

there were all sorts of wonderful rock formations

 

there were interesting things to see

a feather on the sand

 

a minute mussel

 

tiny stones in a hollow in the rock

 

a pretty shell

 

we could have continued our walk to the next beach, but by then our legs were weary - and we still had to walk all the way back to the car!

 

after all that walking, of course we had to be revived with some excellent sconnage

cheese

 

apple and cinnamon

 

while we were on the beach, we picked up lots of seaglass, but back at the flat we weren't tempted to drink this bottle of wine, which we are keeping for a special occasion

 

I was quite happy to put my feet up on my stool, and spend the afternoon reading the papers, then working on a stitchery

 

to finish, one last look at the swans as they came back into the dock on the rising tide

 

 

Another guest quilter

Before introducing you to the mystery quilter, some photos from yesterday evening and this morning

the big machine framed the boats

 

a catamaran came in to dock for the night

 

 

the first stitchery is almost finished

 

 

click to enlarge the photo to see how many seagulls were on the dockside and in the water

 

this afternoon, I asked Malcolm if he could pop into the studio for a minute.  Not suspecting that I was being mischievious, he was a bit surprised when I sat him down at the machine, which was set up for free motion quilting.  As he didn't want to lose face by saying that he couldn't do it, he had a go.  He filled in a gap between my doodles.  His doodling was ok, but he had trouble writing his name!

 

when I was having my practice on Sunday, I had trouble with this "c" curve ...... I had to concentrate so hard on which direction I was stitching in, the shapes were decidedly irregular

 

my first two efforts today were an improvement

 

then by my third attempt I finally got the hang of it

 

I thought I would have a go at an owl ........ Malcolm only laughed a little bit at it!

 

then I thought I would have a go at a sheep - perhaps it is as well that the thread ran out

 

after that I settled down to doing some prep for Mrs Billings, cutting out triangles for for the first border (I have done a lot of work on some of the outer borders)

 

while I was busy in the studio, Malcolm was playing with big boys toys in the garage

 

what was he making?  You know that I am going to tell you tomorrow!

Natural born stitcher*

So who was the mystery stitcher?  The story starts five years ago when Sarah and Andy came to visit.  Sarah was the first blogger that I met in real life, and we had a great day when she and Andy visited all those years ago.  So when Sarah got in touch to say that they would be in Northumberland again this summer for a holiday, of course we invited them for another visit.  They were a little bit late getting to us because of a major road diversion, so as soon as they arrived, we set of for lunch at Harestanes.  We were chatting so much I forgot to take a photo of lunch (delicious, freshly made sandwiches).  However, as we walked round the courtyard the camera came out

 

we then went to Mary Queen of Scots House in Jedburgh

 

the next stop was at Borderland Fabrics, but for some reason Malcolm and Andy chose not to go into the shop, and instead went to Border Meringues for a cuppa.  After Sarah did a little bit of fabric shopping, we joined the boys for a cuppa - but we resisted all the cakes and made do with the little meringues that came with our drinks

 

back home, we went out to the studio, as Sarah had asked if I would show her how to free motion quilt.  I had prepared a couple of sample pieces at the weekend, and looked out this book

 

I had a little go at the basic exercises on Sunday

 

so I was ready to show Sarah what to do

 

she took to it straightaway - Andy could only watch in wonder as she effortlessly doodled her designs

 

as she was doing so well, I rethreaded the machine with a luscious variegated thread, and she was off again

 

then, to finish, she stitched this owl on a branch, over her first efforts

 

unfortunately the weather wasn't good enough for us to have dinner outside, but the food tasted just as good eating at the kitchen table

asparagus soup (before the crumbled blue cheese was added)

 

roast chicken and gravy, with charlotte potatoes and Malcolm's green beans

 

meringue with 3-berry compote and cream

 

all too soon it was time for Sarah and Andy to head back to their holiday cottage.  We had a super day ...... and we hope it won't be another five years before we do it again!!

 

we zoomed off down to Stitchin' Heaven this morning, as Anne's major summer sale had just started.  The shop has been reorganised, and looks even better

 

Anne was cuddling a very special customer

 

Anne has started stocking some beautiful yarn, which comes from here.  So if you knit rather than sew, you can pop in to the shop and Anne will make you a cuppa while you decide which delicious colours to buy

 

after Malcolm dragged me out of the shop with rather a lot of fabric, we headed to Wooler.  We had lunch here, sharing a cheese and ham toastie and a cheese and onion toastie - yum!

 

but what was this?  Behind the coffee shop area, we discovered a small but perfectly formed patchwork shop.  It hasn't been open long, so if you are in the area, do pop in and support them

 

from Wooler, we came over to Berwick, so I am writing this post in the flat.  OK, I can here you all shouting "what did you buy"!  First, from Patchquirk, I got this super beach hut furnishing fabric, which will make more cushions for the flat

 

then from Anne's I got : the two white fabrics are for the Father Christmas wallhanging kits; the dark red variegated embroidery thread is for a Christmas project (I bought the fabric for it last year); the bright variegated threads are for stitcheries; the ruler is a handy size that I have been meaning to buy for some time; and the three coloured fabrics are for a Christmas throw for the couch in the flat

 

in case you don't think they are Christmas fabrics, here is a detail

 

of course if we are at the flat we have to have a swan photo (no close up of the seal, as Stuart has borrowed my big lens)

 

and to finish ...... I wonder if the person who parked this big machine on the dock left the keys in the ignition .......

 

*  apologies to Humble Pie for (almost) using their song title